you have to wonder if there is a trepidation from her people regarding the public life. >> nick, thank you very much for joining us tonight. >> thank you, lawrence. government shutdown. republicans want to party like it's 1995. let's play "hardball." ♪ i'm michael smerconish. in for chris matthews. leading off tonight, shutdown fever as the president aptly noted last friday, the republican party has devolved into a single issue party. they are united only by their hatred of obama care. and not much else. as president obama put it, it's their holy grail. that quest has fueled tea party leaders like ted cruz to threaten a government shutdown if the law isn't defunded and they've hijacked the party narrative.

government shutdown has become the rallying cry for conservatives across the country especially in town halls despite the fact that scores of sensible republicans are warning against the strategy. some have gone so far as to call it political suicide. the doubters now include mitch mcconnell, the senate's top republican speaking out against the viability of cruz's shutdown strategy. mcconnell has largely kept quiet on the issue due to the political dangers of taking an unpopular position among kentucky primary voters. at an event yesterday, he spelled it out plainly saying quote, i'm for stopping obama care but shutting down the government will not stop obama care. it's a bold denunciation. here's the problem for republicans. thanks to leaders like ted cruz, the base has been stirred into a frenzy over a kamikaze mission to block a law they've been programmed to hate. no matter how this now plays out, it's going to be ugly for the gop and it could even get worse for everyone in the country if the far right continues to ratchet up the

pressure to force a shutdown. we're joined by two political strategists, republican john brabender and democrat bob shrum. let me begin with you, john. should we take the threat seriously? or is this being used simply for fund raising purposes? i've got to believe for someone like ted cruz every time he talks about defunding government, there's a spike in his donations. >> well, i think you're 100% right. there are republican who's just want to burn everything down to stop it if that's what it takes. but i believe you have to separate politics from policy in this case. i do not believe there will be a shutdown. it's too risky for the 2014 elections. you're right. you can send an e-mail fund raiser and get people to sign petitions. it's great to get the base engaged and it keeps the issue alive. i think it's more about that than ultimately shutting down the government. >> what is the end game?

how do these individuals calling for the shutdown extricate themselves from that at the right moment? >> there's a couple potential end games. one is to change everything in the 2014 and 2016 elections. a lot of republicans believe 2014 will be particularly good. the house republicans are also looking at the possibility of doing something like a compromise relative to raising of the debt ceiling comes up we can then maybe do something about defunding parts of obama care. the most offensive parts. so there are sort of some negotiation tools. and the one thing we republicans don't do enough is give an alternative. we need to start telling the people of america what our health care alternative is and we've yet to do that. >> bob, there's no accountability as we've been saying about other issues because of hyper partisan districts. if i'm a gop member of the house and rail against obama care and say let's defund the government, et cetera, et cetera, and maybe public surveys across the country say that individual is out of step, chances are they're not out of step in their own district. >> i think that's true. one of the problems the republican party has now is that it rode the tea party to power

in the house in 2010 and now stuck with all those people. i think john is largely right about what sensible republicans want to do. i'm not sure he's right about the ways out. but you have a whole group of folks who might just take this over the cliff. if boehner holds to the rule that he has to have a majority of the majority before he'll bring anything to the floor, you might just have a government shutdown. and sensible people in the republican party like john brabender, carl row think this is a train wreck for the gop. it would be the one thing that could really help democrats in 2014. >> the conservative heritage action, that's an offshoot of jim demint's heritage foundation is trying to rally republicans around the idea that government shutdown won't hurt the republican party. so the group released a new poll that surveyed likely voters in ten swing districts and here are their findings. they find only 28% would blame the republican party for a shutdown and the rest would spread the blame to democrats, to obama, or to all parties.

their conclusion is a shutdown will not cost republicans the house of representatives. john brabender, will that give cover sufficient to cause gop house members to say let's really do this? >> i saw similar surveys in the 1990 and then enafter the government shutdown, the numbers changed dramatically. after it happened. i don't think that's the case. i do think, however, that we want obama care to be front and center. it's a great issue to run on in 2014. i think this is a good political ploy, but i don't think it's a good policy ploy. >> republicans who weren't around for the last government shutdown might not want -- want to listen to newt gingrich. he saw firsthand the backlash. we know how that ended. clinton won the battle for opinion. gingrich ultimately lost his speakership. he addressed a crowd of republicans in boston today and here was his warning to them about obama care. >> i will bet you for most of

you, can if you go home in the next two weeks while your members of congress are home and you look them in the eye and say what is your positive replacement for obama care, they will have zero answer. because we are caught up right now in a culture and you see it every single day, where as long as we're negative and as long as we're vicious and as long as we can tear down our opponent, we don't have to learn anything. and oh we don't. >> bob, i think he hit the nail on the head. i mean, they're against, against, but not necessarily for. great for the base, red meat for the troops. use your own analogy. it's not going to help win independents. >> this is a red letter day for me. i'm going to agree with newt gingrich. i just agreed with john brabender. brabender said it, the republican party has to put positive alternatives ought there. their problem in terms of health care, for example, is you can't

come up with a health care plan that guarantees coverage even if you have pre-existing conditions without an individual mandate. it won't work. because people will just wait until they get sick and then go buy insurance. there's a whole republican task force trying to come up with this alternative. i understand why republicans are desperate and frustrated about this. if obama care goes into effect, if people find out there are no death panels, there's no rationing, tens of millions of americans will get health care and by the time we get to the 2016 election, they will have had it for two and a half years. it will be tough for republicans to oppose it then. and if it goes into effect and it works, by 2020, you'll have republicans saying i promise you obama care is safe in our hands. >> john brabender, how do you put forth a plan that doesn't cherry pick from the more popular aspects of obama care? >> let me agree with bob while we're having this harmony here. and that is, i do think that the democrat goal on this is to get people addicted to big government because once they are, maybe it's harder to take

them off of that. >> i didn't say that, john. >> i'm paraphrasing for you. >> i'd call that a distortion. >> we're in that business. i'm just kidding. but the truth of the matter is we do have to cherry pick. people have to have a comfort level on things like portability that we support that universally, that there are parts of this bill that we want to keep and we're not just going to blow the thing up. the other thing you have to remember, the republican party is not this homogenous group anymore. it's broken into three groups, the establishment, core conservatives and libertarians. the problem is we can't get all three to agree on anything right now. >> i think the intangible remains to be seen how the president is going to campaign for obama care come the fall. we saw in the last couple days, i think he was his most articulate when defending that plan. bob, what do you expect for him when he comes back from martha's vineyard? >> i think he's going to try to work this out so we don't have a shutdown and don't crash the full faith and credit of the united states by playing political games with the debt limit. i think your larger point is

absolutely credit. he's going to go out and talk about obama care. i know the white house believes it's an asset. i know john believes it's a liability. we're going to find out because we're going to hash this out in the next few months into the next year, into 2016. i think, i don't call it dependence on big government. i think when people finally have health care as a matter of right and not a privilege, when you aren't in a situation where you could die or you can't get an illness treated because you don't have the money, i think that's going to become very popular and i think obama is going to win that fight. >> gentlemen, it's pretty clear president obama thinks a republican government shutdown would be bad politics for the gop. here's what he said last friday. >> i think the really interesting question is why it is that my friends in the other party have made the idea of preventing these people from getting health care their holy grail.

their number one priority. the idea that you would shut down the government unless you prevent 30 million people from getting health care is a bad idea. >> john brabender, it was a great sound bite. i think an effective sound bite. interestingly, you don't often hear it from members of his own party. i'm saying the democratic leaders in the house as well as in the senate have not picked up the mantel to be supportive at least from my perspective. >> no. they're scared of it politically. that's why the democrats have delayed this longer because they're scared how it could affect the 2014 elections. we can't even get them to agree yet. some do, that people are going to see rates go up, that it's going to hurt jobs. the only thing i think the president is bringing back from the vineyard is a lower handicap than he went with. >> to the point that was made by bob shrum, you can't cherry pick those elements unless you can fund them.

that was the whole purpose of the way in which this deal was structured meaning the aca. >> what's the question? the question is how can the republicans put forward a plan that cherry picks by way of example and says you're not going to be excluded for pre-existing conditions unless there's a funding source to do that and the funding source is to say, well, everybody's got to have health insurance. >> except the funding source also which this president uses more than anybody is the efficiencies of the systems. this president seems to think that there's more efficiency is there, but there is certainly some that if you build into that that people should be able to get more for their dollars not where they just have to pay two and three times what they're paying today. >> bob, get the final word in and then we've got to break. >> rates are falling, number one. number two, the reason you need the individual mandate is because as i said and john didn't reply to this, otherwise people wait until they're sick and then go buy health insurance. that system won't work. it would bankrupt insurance companies. >> thank you. we appreciate you both.

coming up, blood bath in egypt. hundreds are dead and far more wounded. on a terribly violent day throughout the country. as one analyst said today, the experiment failed and the lab exploded. also, hillary, hillary, hillary. you might have thought the virginia governor's race was all about who would govern virginia but you'd be wrong. it turns out the virginia gop says it's using the race to test drive anti-hillary attacks for 2016. plus you may have heard the embarrassing story that san diego mayor bob filner has been banned from the city's hooters restaurants because he's been disrespectful to women. but what may surprise you is who's behind the move. and let me finish tonight with why bigger isn't always better. this is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of craving something that i can't have ♪ ♪ turn around barbara ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪

♪ the former u.s. congressman jesse jackson jr. was sentenced today to two and a half years in

prison for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign funds on himself and his family. jackson said that today he quote, manned up and tried to accept responsibility. his father civil rights leader the reverend jesse jackson had this to say. >> this has been a very painful journey for our family. i've had to raise many questions to myself about, did i confuse success with sickness. jesse's been driven to succeed. >> jackson's wife sandy was also sentenced to a year in prison for filing false tax returns. the judge in the case allowed the jacksons to stagger their sentences. so he'll serve first. this way one of them can be home to take care of their children. we'll be right back. ars. ars. but your erectile dysfunction - you know,that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph,

like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial.

welcome back to "hardball." cairo descends into what nbc reports characterize as a chaotic bloodbath as security forces moved in to take down protest camps that had been

erected by supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi. hundreds of people have been killed nationwide. thousands more are injured. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel was in the midst of the chaos this morning. >> security forces here are clearly using live ammunition firing into the side streets. there are frontline positions between protesters, security forces, all over cairo. and this one looks like it is about to get very ugly. >> egypt has declared a month long state of emergency. the u.s. embassy in cairo has closed and earlier today, vie president muhammad elbaradei a pro reform leader in the interim government resigned to protest violence. joining me now, foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. what's the very latest from the cairo? >> well, a government imposed curfew has gone into effect this evening prohibiting anyone from going into the streets.

they have warned anyone caught on streets will be imprisoned. this in addition to emergency law that was declared a few hours ago, putting the country under emergency law. effectively putting the country under emergency law. and that would probably limit civil process or due process for civilians arrested over the course of the next several days. this is expected to last for a month. meanwhile, the ministry of interior says 43 people, members of its security forces, were killed. the ministry of health says the number of those killed that are civilians stands at 240 or more. you can expect that number to rise in the coming hours as more and more bodies are recovered from some of these flash points where clashes happen between members of the police forces and supporters of the ousted president. the muslim brotherhood is describing today's event as a massacre. they've put the number of those killed in today's clashes well above 300. so it is going to be a very

critical 24-hour period to see what happens with the interim government and more importantly what happens with the security forces as they try to restore law and order in various parts of the country. this is not just happening in cairo but across the country in several cities and more importantly is, supporters of the oughted president are not deterred by the emergency or the curfew. they are insisting on continuing their marches and protests well throughout the course of the next several days. >> what sort of challenges are posed for journalists? i ask because i know there's been some violence towards journalists. we showed pretty harrowing footage of richard engel caught in a difficult position. does it make it difficult for you to get accurate information? >> it is. it is extremely difficult both for us to get information from government sources and also from the opposition. now, keep in mind we're talking about the death toll on one hand. conflicting numbers. people are using the media. state media, as well. people have been using international journalists to try and get their message across. it is extremely unreliable and on top of all of that

misinformation coming up from both sides, you have a very volatile security situation as we saw with our own nbc crew earlier in the day. there's also been reports of at least two journalists killed. a camera man with sky news and an egyptian journalist,' print reporter, a female print reporter working to are a newspaper out of the united arab emirates. both of them were killed today, as well. their circumstances still unclear as to who was firing in what direction. there's no doubt there is live ammunition being used by both sides. that is making it extremely volatile and dangerous for the journalists and other workers who are out there trying to document what is happening, including those from civil society here in egypt. >> thank you, ayman mohyeldin. stay safe. earlier today a white house spokesman condemned the use of violence against protesters and john kerry expressed concern about the violences in egypt this afternoon. >> the world is closely watching

egypt. it is deeply concerned about the events that we have witnessed today. the united states remains at the ready to work with all of the parties and with our partners and with others around the world in order to help achieve a peaceful democratic way forward. >> joining me now is bobby gauche, international editor for "time" magazine who interviewed then president morsi for a november cover story with the cover line the most important man in the middle east. bobby, you heard the reference to the ripple effects in egypt beyond cairo. what's the pro tension for ripple effects beyond egypt? >> i think the potential is quite small. it's quite contained. there are other arab spring countries like tunisia, like libya, like yemen where you have a similar clash between the old establishment, the old liberal establishment and the new

islamist political, the rising political force. but we're not seeing the clash there reach the proportions that we've seen in egypt. there's always concern about israel's safety, particularly in this country but israel has demonstrated over and over again it is perfectly capable of looking out for its own interests. there's some terrorist activity that's taking place in the sinai peninsula and that's something to be watched very closely. but i don't see this as having significant ripple effects across the region. >> as i watch the footage of the violence, i ask myself, are we the united states on the side of democracy? >> i don't think we're on anybody's side here. i think we're equally disdained by all sides which is a terrible position for the united states to be. considering how much time, energy, political capital, and real money we've spent in that country. but that's where we find ourselves. i mean, you heard secretary of state john kerry today, a couple of days ago the same and john kerry was saying the egyptian

military basically that the coup was the military's way of restoring democracy to egypt which is frankly preposterous. >> of course he didn't use that "c" word. >> he did not and refuses to do so. these images coming out showing it smells like a coup, it looks like a coup but for some reason we can't say it, that hurts america's credibility even more. >> isn't it fair to say this is that which we are funding and it raises the question whether we should continue to do so. >> the latter is certainly true. we should be asking questions why we keep putting good money after bad. whether we are funding this is a slightly different question. $1.5 billion might seem like a lot of money but it really isn't in modern day in the middle east. the saudis, the kuwaitis, the united arab emirates give them far more money than we are. what we're sending them is a small token and we should be asking ourselves whether we should still be doing that. >> the name he will bear ral day is known to americans.

of what signatures is was his resignation today? >> not a huge one. he compromised his credibility as a neutral party or as an honest broker when he blessed the coup and participated in the interim military-run government. of course, his leaving that government today, he resigned, does affect the credibility of that government to some degree. but i think you'll see that the military is very good at this. they're very good at finding typically older men wearing western suits putting them in front of cameras and saying this is the new guy, this is the civilian. we're just soldiers doing our job. >> quick final question if i might. your "time" cover story identified morsi as the most important man in the middle east. if you were writing that cover story today, who would be that individual? >> well, of the middle east is now much more fractured place. he was the most important man because he represented an experiment in post arab spring democracy. it wasn't about him so much as what he represented. that experiment has failed. so he is clearly now out of the picture.

we haven't seen him in weeks and weeks. general sisi is clearly the most important man in egypt at the moment. >> thank you. privilege to have you. and a reminder. you can follow me on twitter so long as you can spell smerconish. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ thunder crashes ] [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ]

it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk.

back to "hardball." time for the sideshow. you may have heard that besieged san diego mayor bob filner has been banned from hooters, the restaurant chain has posted a no service sign outside four locations in the san diego area. but did you know where that sign came from? radio and tv personality glenn beck. it's a pdf downloadable straight from his website. hooters stated their decision to use the sign was not political. next up, it's better late

than never. president obama is set to honor the miami dolphins at the white house next week for their super bowl victories back in the '72 and '73 season. he's rectifying a historic snub that took place decades ago under then president nixon who was reportedly too embroiled in the watergate scandal to extend the traditional invite to the winning team. well, as it turns out, nixon was also rooting for the other side, the washington redskins who lost to the dolphins in super bowl vii. the rest of the beltway crowd either supported the redskins skins or waffled on the issue. as many as politicians are prone to do. just take a look at this coverage from the day before that big game in january of 1973. there wasn't a single dolphins fan. >> among those 75 million spectators will be one president of the united states and many members of congress and other washington figures. we asked them to talk about the

super bowl and here's what they said. >> who's going to win the big game, senator. >> it's a tossup. >> i'm a redskins fan. >> well, the redskins. >> what's your prediction, senator? >> on what? >> going to be a great game, great game. >> i don't like to jinx the redskins, but i think the redskins are going to win. >> i'm for the over the hill game. >> the redskins are going to win the big game. i've got it figured out. >> the better team will win. >> which is going to be the better team? >> the one who gets the most points. >> the redskins, of course. >> the redskins. >> why? >> because they have more crash worthy equipment. >> the redskins. washington had the good judgment to vote for the right candidate on november 7th. >> who are you really for? >> the vikings. >> some familiar faces there. i guess it took 40 years for the 17-0 dolphins, the only nfl team with a perfect season to find at least one friend in washington. finally, can michelle obama add hip hop star to her resume? sort of. the first lady's let's move campaign is set to release a hip

hop album called "songs for a healthier america" which is samed at school kids across the country. it features titles like "you are what you eat" and "veggie love." while she doesn't sing herself, she does appear in some of the music visit videos including this one just released today. >> right now what we want to do, we want to get everybody together. all over the world. as we get this thing starred something like this. come on. >> it's hard to believe that almost exactly one year ago, we launched a nationwide campaign called let's move to help solve the problem of childhood obesity in this country. back when we first decided to take on the issue of childhood obesity, a lot of people wondered could we actually make a difference. ♪ i'm going to make this my best year ♪ ♪ it's your life ♪ from friends and family your life ♪ ♪ there's no pressure, things will be better if you try ♪ ♪ you got to

up next, turns out the virginia governor's race is all about hillary clinton. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics.

hillary clinton in the general election can beat john mccain in florida, she beats him in ohio. she beats him in missouri. this is about winning the election on november 4th and helping the down ballot races. she has won the 208 congressional districts key to us winning to keep the house of representatives. nothing is impossible. tomorrow something new could happen. nothing's impossible. you are talking to terry mcauliffe i don't think anything is impossible. >> welcome back to "hardball." you may have thought the hot governor's race in virginia was about terry mcauliffe versus ken cuccinelli. but it turns out it's actually about hillary clinton. that's because republicans are using the virginia race to test drive attacks against hillary ahead of her potential run for president in 2016. america rising, a super pac made

up of several former romney aides is the same group that created the website stop hillary twikt.org. they told "hardball" today terry mcall live is trading on influence, serial exaggeration, d.c. insiderism with hillary clinton. this is according to executive director tim miller, he has a long record of shady insider dealing involving the clintons, their family, and the investigation into the car company he and hillary's brother are executives in. to the extent terry is damaged with voters based on these issues in virginia, this fall you can see how it could hurt hilary in 2016. well, tim miller is with that super pac america rising. neera tanden is president of the center for american progress and has known hillary for 20 years working with her in the white house, the senate and her 2008 presidential campaign. tim, if i'm terry mcauliffe,

maybe i like the linkage you're providing. her numbers not just in virginia but all across the country are incredibly strong. smart as a matter of fact, hillary clinton is leading in five prospective republican presidential candidates. the only one that comes within a margin of error is new jersey governor chris christie who clinton leads by one point. according to latest poll in virginia, clinton beats jeb bush in virginia by five points and three other potential rivals trail her by double digits in virginia. hillary outperforms the state's current governor bob mcdonald by ten points and she trounces florida senator marco rubio and kentucky senator rand paul by 12 points each. respond to that please. >> it's pretty early for these polls. i'll give you one example of why the clintons are damaging terry mcall live in virginia right now. terry and hillary's brother are currently under federal investigation for, among other

things, trading on tony rodham's name in order to fast track visas from china for their boondoggle of a car company. this was front page news on the "new york times" and the "washington post" this past weekend. and it's going to be a problem for terry in virginia. i think it's also going to raise questions for hillary as she begins to campaign for him in september. why is she letting her brother lobby this administration at all? it's the typical clinton and mcauliffe trading on their d.c. connections. >> tim, do you hold out some hope if you can make this somehow a referendum on the former secretary of state and not on the respective republican and democratic candidates for governor, that if you're successful, and if you defeat terry mcauliffe, that the former secretary of state will reconsider her plans for 2016? >> no, look, the 2013 virginia governor's race is a referendum on terry mcauliffe. his record of being a d.c. huckster who trades on his influence in order to help his

friends get access to people in power. particularly the clintons. to the extent that terry is not successful and turns voters off because of that track record in virginia in 2013, when the election is over in november, we're going to glean a lot of lessons that can be used in a potential campaign if hillary decides to run in 2016. >> neera, if i were running for office and my opponent wanted to tie me to someone who had a 61% favorability rating across the country and 33% unfavorability rating and that's according to abc and "the washington post," i think i'd be pretty thrilled with that. >> no, i think terry is looking forward to his event with hillary at the end of the month. i would say that tim miller and america rising are part of an effort tho has been going on for years of conservative activists really milking republican donors at the behest of their dislike of hillary clinton because she's a fighter for what she believes in. and, you know, they've been trying to fight her for 20, 30 years and failed each and every time.

i look at this and i recognize that this is just another effort to raise money off of people's anger, you know. there's a small group of people who dislike hillary and what's been heartwarming about the last several years is the strong support hillary has across this nation from republicans, independents, and democrats. >> will you nevertheless pay close attention to what's going on in virginia so as to give some insight to what sticks and doesn't stick in terms of negativity with an eye toward her future? >> look, you know. i think 2013 and 2016 are really almost decades apart from each other. terry mcauliffe is running a race. i think if people are concerned about hucksterism and insiderism, they pay a lot of attention to ken cuccinelli and the investigations going on with actual donations that he's had that he should be returned. so i think but this race is a race on its own. and i think the lessons we're

going to learn is that these right wing attacks that have been going on for decades have will fail because people have their own views of hillary. she has been a leader. people have experience with her as secretary of state, as a senator. you know, i think these attacks have failed before and they'll fail again. >> tim miller, i wonder how much ground there is that's up for grabs with regard to the former secretary of state, former first lady. it seems like opinions both ways are so entrenched when it comes to the clintons. >> let me tell you this, there's a lot of ground to make up. if you remember what happened in 2007, hillary might have been really popular at the beginning of the campaign. but once she becomes a political animal again, her numbers are going to come back down to earth. the democratic party voters rejected her in 2008 in large part for the exact same reasons why voters will reject terry mcauliffe. they didn't like the selling of the lincoln bedroom, they didn't like people involved in the d.c. morass where they help people

with big money get access to people in power and give them special deals. this is the way the clintons work. mcauliffe has been central to that for the past two decades. it didn't work in 2008. it's not going to work in '16. >> there's a sense this has all been litigated already. you've got an uphill climb in that regard. and the people have heard it before. >> they rejected her. >> they made up their minds. >> with all due respect, i don't think people in the democratic party were listening to conservative activists right wing groups. they were -- that was a tough race obviously. but what's really remarkable about where we are now is how much strong support hillary has, not just amongst democrats, but she has very strong with black, independents as well. >> thank you. up next, is it possible that the nation's largest city is making a sharp move to the left? this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ female announcer ] what does the anti-aging power of olay total effects

plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal? introducing the newest beauty trend. total effects cc cream c for color. c for correction. [ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly. cc for yourself.

♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ you've no doubt seen the poll that says republicans want their leaders to be more conservative than they already are. in south carolina, a new primary challenger to senator lindsey graham may well be giving his party what it wants. state senator lee wright announced his challenge to graham and went far beyond the typical call for a more conservative representation in washington. he called graham, quote, a community organizer for the

muslim brotherhood. the comment stems from graham's trip to egypt last week with john mccain, the two senators attempted to get both sides of that sticky situation to calm things down. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about.

and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you. anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. call today. remember, medicare supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs... you'll be able choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients.

and you never need referrals. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. i've apologized for my personal behavior. the speaker refuses to apologize for overturning the will of the people, for the slush fund scandal and for things in her professional record. that's the difference. >> let me just say, i think it's very clear to all new yorkers that neither me nor anybody else on this stage or any new yorker quite frankly should be lectured by anthony weiner about what we need to apologize for tonight or ever. >> hey, we're back.

despite that fiery exchange from last night's democratic primary debate, there's good news from new york. it looks like the 2013 mayoral race will not come down to a referendum on anthony weiner's private parts. that's the conclusion from the latest quinnipiac poll. weiner is in fourth place safely relegated to the sideshow. the new front runner is a bit of a advocate bill de blasio. he is pushing the most ambitiously aggressive agenda of the bunch. for example, he's targeting anyone making over $500,000 a year with a tax hike. he's also been critical of mayor michael bloomberg's tenure. how successful will that message be this fall? bloomberg's defenders point out the city has seen crime rates go down, graduation rate gos up, and it has weathered the fiscal crises better than other cities. new yorker magazine's george packer captured the sub sext text of that the argument "when i mentioned de blasio to anew yorkers who generally votes republican he said yeah, and new

york will end up like detroit, tax the rich and give to the poor and drive away successful industries like banking bankrupt the city. katrina vanden heuvel is the editor of the nation magazine which endorsed de blasio. floyd flake is a former new york congressman. he backed bloomberg four years ago. for example, he's targeting anyone making over $500,000 a year with a tax hike. he's been critical of mayor michael bloomberg's tenure, that

plays well in a democratic primary. this guilded city for the few as opposed to a new york of opportunity for the many, for the old. >> howard wolfson, new york's deputy mayor criticized the vision de blasio was offering and said this, he has a very 1960s, 1970s vision for the city. if you prefer the version of the city that existed then, he's your guy. wolfson said he's focused on higher taxes, bigger government and more mandates in government.

it brings to my mind the out of towners with jack lemmon. it sticks out in my mind where this businessman from ohio ends up sleeping in central park. new york was a different place then. >> you would not feel comfortable because the crime industries, the drugs in the streets, all the things that were defining new york at that time. over time things have devolved to a place where particularly under this administration people feel like there's an attempt to create a city that's livable. there is access to resources that are sustainable. >> i think howard wolfson was fear mongering, and misleading, because the city has alienated. mayor bloomberg's administration through racial profiling, which a judge ruled unconstitutional in the way it violated the rights of minorities in the city. this was just monday.

bill de blasio is for safe neighborhoods, safe communities. not for driving a wedge in those communities through bad policing, which is -- you need good community involvement. so i think it's misleading, i think the crime drop is irreversible and i think there are many different ways to have public security. there are many other mayors in this country which have stopped the abusive stop and frisk policies. if mayor bloomberg was a mayor for all, when he got the judge's decision on stop and frisk on monday. he would have welcomed federal monitoring on stop and frisk,

instead of saying, abusing the court decision. >> congressman, in only 20 seconds, it's unfair for you to do this. that crime rate has come down? >> i think it's played a role, i think there are also other issues you have to look at in terms of crime. i buried two young girls who were killed, one sitting on a bus, and someone starts shooting in. there is still an element in this city that needs to be dealt with. now, stop and frisk may not be the solution but there has to be a solution for our kids being killed in the streets of new york city. >> katrina vandenhoovel, thank you. a case where bigger may not be better. this is "hardball" the place for politics.

let me finish tonight with this, having recently approved the mergers of delta and northwest as well as continental and united. the justice department is creating turbulence for american and usairways. and six attorneys general from diverse states agree including those from texas and arizona where american and usairways are based. one illustration of concern could be found at reagan national airport, where the resulting airline would account for 70% of all flights and control 63% of nonstop flights. that level of consolidation has passengers worrying about rates and routes. the airlines respond by saying, the merger would create more

options for customers. i'm not holding my breath. it's because of the prior mergers that the usairways/american marriage would be challenged. this would create the world's largest airline, and we would be left with four airlines controlling 80% of the u.s. market for air travel. bigger rarely seems to be better. when i swap travel stories with friends and colleagues, no one seems to single out the giants for good service. more likely they'll reference jet blue, virgin, alaska airlines or even southwest. speaking of jet blue, that airline happens to lease half of its takeoff and landing slots at reagan from american airlines. and would thereforebe vulnerable. this dispute will probably be settled before you can put your seats in a full upright position. it will create the competition that would otherwise be in short supply. that's "hardball" for now.

thank you for being with us. all in with chris hayes starts right now. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. tonight on "all in." a little more than amonth since egyptians gathered by the millions to celebrate the overthrow of their president. that country is in a state of emergency. also tonight, a growing boycott for the winter olympics in rush why. it turns out harvey fierstein had a real problem with our coverage. tonight he will be here to set me straight. stay tuned for that. we must begin th